A California man who went missing 25 years ago is being reunited with his family after his sister saw his photo in a news article.
The Lassen County Sheriff's Office said it received a call on Friday from a woman who said she had information about a missing person. She told Sheriff's Deputy Derek Kennemore that she had been sent a USA Today article with a photo of a man she believed was her missing brother.
The sheriff's office withheld the names of the individuals in the interest of the family's privacy.
The man went missing in Doyle in 1999 and had not been heard from since, according to the sheriff's office.
The USA Today article was seeking assistance in identifying a man who had been admitted to a hospital in the Los Angeles area.
Kennemore contacted the hospital, who said the man had been transferred to another hospital in the area in July. The hospital said he was non-verbal and had never been identified.
The second hospital told the deputy that a non-verbal, unidentified man in their care matched the description of the missing person.
The Los Angeles Police Department Missing Persons Unit responded to the hospital and fingerprinted the man to confirm his identity. Kennemore then contacted the woman and informed her that officials were able to positively identify the man as her brother.
The Lassen County Sheriff's Office said the family will be reunited soon.
"The Lassen County Sheriff's Office would like to commend Deputy Kennemore on his tenacity with this case. We would also like to thank the Los Angeles Police Department for their assistance in identifying the missing man and closing out this 25-year-old case," Captain Mike Carney said on Facebook.
The USA Today article, which was published in May, said the St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood was unable to identify a patient they discovered in South Los Angeles on April 15.
The report said the man was believed to be in his mid-60s and could not communicate his name or any other information that would help with identifying him.
Carney told ABC News that the sister was "super-excited" to hear that her brother had been found.
"She was very appreciative that we took the time just to follow up on it. She was over the moon and anxious to call other family members to let them know," Carney said.
He said this is a "perfect example" of following up on missing persons cases.
"Be tenacious when it comes to these things because there are family members that want answers," he said.
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Jenna Sundel
Jenna Sundel is a Newsweek reporter based in New Jersey. Her focus is reporting on breaking news. Jenna joined Newsweek ...
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